In Jordan and Palestine, the solid wastes (jift or gefet) is used
primarily as a fuel source. It may occasionally be used as animal feed
but this is only a very minor use. There are several companies in Jordan
now making commercial charcoal from the jift, and this charcoal is
prefered over other types of charcoal. Pottery kilns in JOrdan also use
the jift as kiln fuel. In many homes in the smaller villages in northern
Jordan the jift is used as winter heating fuel in small stoves. Overall,
the burning characteristics of the jift are the reason it is preferred as
a fuel; it burns with a high, intense heat, has little smoke or smell, and
burns almost completely to ash leaving almost no inclusions (an important
factor when cleaning out firing chambers and stoves).

An agricultural experimental station in Jordan is looking at ways to
include jift in animal feed, and farmers I talked with mentioned
occasionally feeding jift to sheep, but the primary usage is as a fuel
source.



Peter Warnock
Dept. of Anthropology
Swallow Hall
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211
(573) 443-4203
(573) 884-5450 (fax)
c581927@showme.missouri.edu

The solid waste (the sansa) is normally commected here in Italy and
the small amount of residual oil extracted but in other countries where the
volime does not justify the collection and second extraction it was used as
animal feed. Provided it is mixed with other feedstuffs (sheep and cattle
cannot digest large amounts of fat) it provides a valuable source of
energy.
Unfortunately many countries such as Tunisia where it was fed to
sheep mixed with barley have decided to "modernise" their animal feeding
with aid from France and the EU. The new factories produce pellets for
sheep, cattle etc. but are not able to use olive waste.

The process that is rapidly taking over in Italy is the two and
half phase centrifuge. Like the three phase it separates into oil, water
and sansa but some of the watery residue is recycled. Flavour is better
than the three phase. The volume of the watery residue is reduced as no
water is added.

Cheers Brian Chatterton.